TOURISM VANCOUVER

Travel Type Campaign

Building Up a Database of Traveller Information

The Canadian Travel Commission (CTC), Canada’s national tourism marketing organization, works to learn everything they can about travellers to Canada. In this effort, they developed the Explorer Quotient®, a tool that profiles consumers into eight distinct types of travellers. more Tourism Vancouver works with the CTC to help collect this data, which affords them deeper customer knowledge, better targeted marketing campaigns, and stronger leads. They approached smashLAB to help increase EQ quiz-taking in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

Revisiting the Fun Side of Travel

To promote quiz-taking, we developed a campaign that works on two levels: first, by arousing people’s curiosity to learn more about themselves; and second, by enticing them with the chance to win a Vancouver getaway.

Meanwhile, our creative concept focused on the notion of adventure. Alongside a richly textured landing page, we built a motion graphics piece that utilized cut-out animations for a tactile, colourful, and lively feel. Other visual elements, such as iconic travel stickers for each travel type, harkened back to the sense of fun in travel, and were threaded throughout the campaign.

Enticing Users through Self-Discovery

Through a combination of digital ads, blogger outreach, and social media, the Travel Type campaign sent over 34,000 unique visitors to the microsite, 58% of whom clicked to take the quiz. With a (rather remarkable) completion rate of 89%, over 17,700 users discovered their Travel Type, an 1,833% increase in comparison to the previous year. Additionally, Tourism Vancouver added nearly 9,500 users to their mailing list, and continued to increase awareness of the city as a vibrant, rich travel destination.

We created a motion graphics video that features cut-out animations, delivering a tactile, colorful, and lively sensibility. This piece works to introduce viewers to the Explorer Quotient (EQ) quiz, and offer up a chance to win a Vancouver getaway for two.

Display ads make use of some of the same visual elements seen in the video, to create consistency. Each of these features a different EQ travel type, as well as an illustration of an iconic Vancouver setting, or activity, for brand building purposes. Meanwhile, a clear call-to-action encourages users to “Find your travel type,” while enticing them with the possibility of winning a free trip.

Visual elements, such as colourful travel stickers, were created to harken back to the sense of fun and adventure in travel. These are threaded throughout all aspects of the campaign, including the microsite, video, and ads.

The microsite prominently showcases the video, as well as links to Tourism Vancouver and the Canadian Travel Commission (the organization that developed and operates the EQ quiz). A travel suitcase background works to reinforce the feel, while a brief introductory paragraph guides users through to the quiz.

Scope

Campaign strategy and planning

Microsite architecture, design, development

Motion graphics and digital ads production

Advertising campaign and media plan

Monitoring, iteration, and Analytics reporting

Key Benefits

Amplified quiz-taking in our target markets

Expanded the CTC Explorer Quotient database

Built up the Tourism Vancouver mailing list

Increased awareness as a destination

Extended impressions of the “It’s You” song

Assets

Microsite landing page with quiz integration

Digital ads (display, Facebook, text)

Motion graphics video

Content for media/blogger outreach

Varying content for social media platforms

Feedback

“The Travel Type campaign far exceeded our expectations in terms of execution and results. During a busy time at Tourism Vancouver, smashLAB was able to run the campaign for us from beginning to end, without a hitch.”